COSHOCTON – Starting this school year, children with undiagnosed food allergies might be much safer at school.

A new law allows Ohio schools and day camps to stock epinephrine auto-injectors, commonly known as EpiPens, for children without a specific child’s prescription. Previously, nurses could store epinephrine only for students with prescriptions, potentially putting children with unknown allergies at risk.

“Schools that stock it will be safer for children,” said Kim Stainslo, president of the Ohio School Nurses Association.

One in 4 children who experienced a severe allergic reaction to peanuts at school had not been diagnosed previously.

Epinephrine is a shot of adrenaline injected into a large muscle, usually the thigh, to reduce the effects of anaphylaxis, a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction, according to the Ohio School Nurses Association.

Schools are not required to stock epinephrine, but those that do must establish policies on the number of injectors and storage. The policy must define who may administer epinephrine in an emergency, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

River View Local Schools won’t be stocking the EpiPens right away, Superintendent Dalton Summers said. Although the law provides some immunity from civil lawsuits to schools and camps that administer the auto-injector, Summers said he plans to take a cautious approach to the new legislation.

“At this point, we haven’t changed our policy,” Summers said. “We’ll have EpiPens available for kids that have prescriptions. We’ll look at the new policy and weigh out the costs to see what’s best to protect our kids and protect our schools. ... Cost is always an issue, as is safety. We’ll have to weigh out the pros and cons.”

Each school district must decide whether it wants to stock the epinephrine.

Each shot costs between $100 and $150 and must be replaced every 12 to 18 months, Stainslo said. Many schools can acquire epinephrine auto-injectors through federal grants or discounted offers from companies that manufacture them, but Stainslo said those funds likely won’t be sustainable in the future.

In November, President Barack Obama signed the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act, which encouraged state legislatures to have epinephrine stocked at schools. Preference on asthma-related grants would be given to states that passed legislation, according to the act.

In April, Ohio joined more than 40 other states with laws permitting epinephrine be stocked at schools. Nine states have no law or regulations on stocking epinephrine, but six of those are working on legislation, according to Food Allergy Research & Education, a nonprofit organization representing those with food allergies.

Dr. Suri Suresh, a board-certified allergist with the Allergy & Asthma Clinics of Ohio in Mansfield, said the change was a move in the right direction. Many parents are unaware their children suffer from allergies until after they’ve had an allergic reaction, he said.

The side effects of accidentally injecting a child are minimal compared with the health risks of a severe allergic reaction, Suresh said.